Sporting game of Sokker Golph™

ABSTRACT

A sporting game in which a new ball called a skokker ball is kicked from a starting point toward a smooth containing a buc for the purpose of sinking the skokker ball into the buc in as few as strikes as possible and, if the skokker ball is not sunk into the buc when it is first kicked, then it is struck with a player&#39;s foot one or more additional times until the skokker ball is sunk into the buc. The direction of travel of the skokker ball is to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied to the skokker ball at a point of contact with the player&#39;s foot, to the left when a clockwise spin is applied to the skokker ball at the point of contact, and straight when a top spin is applied to skokker ball at the point of contact. The game is played on a course having N holes each of which has a starting point, a rough and a smooth with a buc located in it. A player must use one foot to kick the skokker ball from the starting point and when not on the smooth and the player&#39;s other foot when striking the skokker ball on the smooth.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/707695, entitled “The Sporting Game of Sokker Golph™,” filed Aug. 11, 2005, and is related to another patent application being filed concurrently herewith claiming priority from the same application with the same inventor, entitled “The Skokker™ Ball,” Attorney Docket No. RLA 35.119. The disclosures of both of these applications are specifically incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of outdoor sporting games played in specially designed facilities such as a golf course or a soccer field.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For over a century, the game of golf has always been considered as a game of the highest prestige and esteem. The reason is that the game of golf requires not only a player's developed skill but also one's mastery over one's mind when the game is played. In this respect golf is truly a unique game of its own unmatched by any others in the sporting field. Unfortunately for ordinary folks, golf has also been developed over the years primarily for people with means. It has been looked upon as only a rich man's game that requires not only expensive equipment to play (e.g. the golf club set and bag), but also fashionable attire and exquisite golf courses associated with country clubs accessible only to those lucky few that can afford such means. Although in recent years many more common people can afford to enjoy playing this game as equipment outlay, playing attire costs and green fees have all slowly come down from those of earlier years, golf still remains an expensive sporting game for people to play. It is of interest to note that golf today still has not been recognized and listed as a competitive sporting event in the Olympic Games. One of the reasons is that at present golf is still not considered as a game that is accessible for play by most common people.

The game of soccer has been considered for a long time by many as the most popular and beloved sporting game of the world. Only until relatively recently soccer was not a popular game in the United States, primarily because of the co-existence of the enormously popular game of American football. Over the past decade or so, the popularity of soccer in the United States has grown significantly because of the success of the American women's soccer teams in world competitions. Today soccer is just as popular, if not more so, as little league baseball for elementary school children, boys and girls alike. In the coming years it is difficult to not believe that soccer will rank equally in enthusiasm and support alongside with American football, baseball, ice hockey and basketball as the most popular seasonable sporting games in the United States.

As more and more people play golf in the United States when the overall playing cost for the game slowly declines over the years and the popularity of soccer has just about gone through the roof in about the same time span, particularly in the United States, an opportunity presents itself for introducing a game that combines the striking features of these two popular and beloved games into one that is more accessible to common people. Such a game, called “Sokker Golph™”, will preserve, albeit in a different way, not only the fun and spirit of the golf game, but more importantly reduce the overall playing cost for the game to the point that almost anybody can afford playing it. A special ball which is similar to the regular soccer ball, but behaves totally differently when kicked or passed, is used to play the game of Sokker Golph™. The so-called skokker (short for “Skokker Ball™”), which is the subject of the current invention, exhibits an eccentric and rather uncontrollable motion in flight when kicked or on the ground when putted unless a concomitant spin is properly applied to it. In other words, the skokker allows properly trained players to control its motion on the ground and in the air. Once this is achieved, skilled soccer players can continue to use their ball handling skills in kicking and moving the skokker while playing the game of Sokker Golph.™

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a sporting game in which a skokker ball is kicked from a starting point toward a smooth containing a buc for the purpose of sinking the skokker ball into the buc in as few as strikes as possible and, if the skokker ball is not sunk into the buc when it is first kicked, then it is struck with a player's foot one or more additional times until the skokker ball is sunk into the buc. Significantly, the direction of travel of the skokker ball will be to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied to the skokker ball at a point of contact with the player's foot, to the left when a clockwise spin is applied and straight when a top spin is applied.

In a first, separate group of aspects of the present invention, the sporting game is played on a course having N holes (where N is any positive integer greater than 0), and each of the holes has a unique starting point, a rough and a smooth with a unique buc located in it, the skokker ball having a diameter of approximately nine inches and each of the unique bucs has a diameter of approximately 18 inches. When the game is played by two or more players, the winner is the player who has the fewest strikes of the skokker ball.

In a second, separate group of aspects of the present invention, a player must choose either the player's left foot or the player's right foot as a first foot, with the player's other foot then becoming a second foot, and the player must kick the skokker ball from the starting point and when not on the smooth with the player's first foot while the player must only strike the skokker ball on the smooth with the player's second foot. The selection of which of the player's feet will be the first foot and which will be the second foot can be maintained throughout all holes in an N-buc game or the player can be allowed to change such selection with the beginning of a new hole.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel sporting game that combines elements of golf and soccer through the use of a new ball that exhibits eccentric rolling and flight characteristics.

This and further objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art in connection with the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts schematically the design of the regular Sokker Golph (SK) ball showing the construct of the hollow inner core filled partially with glycerin and the outer layer of compressed air surrounding the inner core.

FIG. 2 depicts the directional motion of the skokker when a spin is concomitantly applied to the a) right side of the skokker; b) the left side of the skokker and c) the top surface of the skokker with the kicking.

FIG. 3 depicts the different design for a Sokker Golph course: (a) a design following a 9 or 18 hole golf course layout; (b) a design utilizing a standard soccer playing field; (c) a design utilizing an American football playing field and (d) any plausible design with sufficient space for laying out an SK course with at least one buc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a new outdoor sporting game that combines the intrigue, skill and excitement features of the prestigious game of golf with the popular game of soccer. This new outdoor sporting game is called “Sokker Golph”. The playing rules of this new game generally follow the framework of golf in that each player starts out with his or her own ball and attempts to place the ball into a designated spot (the “hole” on the putting green for golf and the “buc” [short for the bucket] on the “smooth” for Sokker Golph) in the playing field (“golf course” for golf and simply a “SG course” for Sokker Golph). Like the playing of golf when a player using special clubs attempts to sink a ball into each of the 9 or 18 holes on a course with as few strokes as possible, the player playing Sokker Golph tries to achieve the same objective without the use of clubs but with a totally different ball (see FIG. 1). For playing a hole in Sokker Golph a player equipped with a special pair of shoes (optional) attempts to first kick the ball onto the “green” (“smooth” for Sokker Golph) and then sinks the ball into the hole (bucket or “buc”). Like golf, for playing a 9-hole or 18-hole game, whosoever uses the fewest strokes (drives or putts for golf and kicks and passes for Sokker Golph) to sink the ball into each of the 9 or 18 holes (bucs) wins the game.

Unlike the small golf ball used to play golf, the skokker is considerably bigger (˜9.0″ in diameter) and is slightly bigger than the regular soccer ball which is ˜8.5″ in diameter. Apart form the size difference of the skokker from either the golf or the soccer ball, the construct of the skokker is totally different as depicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the skokker has a centrally located core or hollow spherical shell 1 formed out of hard plastic which is filled in part with as fluid (liquid) 2 which is much heavier than air. Possible candidates for the filling fluid include glycerin, oils such as motor oil or live oil or water. The hollow spherical shell 1 is supported at the center by six elastic anchoring struts 3 (springs not shown). When the space 4 between the core 1 and the outer surface of the skokker is inflated with air 5, the skokker becomes bouncy like a soccer ball. Since the size of the skokker is ˜9.0″ in diameter, the size of the buc on the smooth (˜15″ in diameter) is also considerably larger than the size of the hole on the putting green for golf. Apart from the size difference of the skokker from either the golf ball or the soccer ball, the construct of the skokker is totally different, as is described in my application entitled “The Skokker™ Ball,” which is being filed concurrently with the present application.

To determine the travel direction of skokker ball upon either being kicked or struck (putted), a spin must be imparted onto the ball in order to control the motion of fluid 2 in an inner core 1 of the skokker ball. In other words, the spin imparted onto skokker ball will cause fluid 2 inside a cavity of the core 1 at the center of skokker ball to swirl substantially in a well-defined manner such as a clockwise, counterclockwise, top to bottom or bottom to top spinning direction as depicted in FIG. 2. It is this swirling motion of the fluid at the core of skokker ball that will determine the motion of skokker ball and its subsequent direction of travel. In other words, unless the skokker ball is kicked or struck in a deliberate fashion, the skokker ball will appear to have a mind of its own upon being casually kicked or struck and will travel in a totally uncontrollable and unpredictable manner.

As shown in FIG. 2(a), when a counterclockwise spin 6 is applied to a right side point of contact 7 of the skokker ball while it is being kicked or struck, an equivalent clockwise spinning effect 8 is imparted to fluid 2 inside the core 1 thus causing the resultant motion of the skokker ball to the right from the point of contact. When a clockwise spin 9 is applied to a left side point of contact 10 of the skokker ball while it is being kicked as shown in FIG. 2(b), an equivalent counterclockwise spinning effect 11 is imparted to fluid 2 inside the core 1 thus causing the resultant motion of the ball to the left. In FIG. 2(c) when a top spin 12 is imparted to the ball while it is kicked, the effective spinning on fluid 2 inside the core 1 remains in the vertical plane 13 and the skokker ball will subsequently go in a straight direction without swirling to the left or right. The examples given above are for pure spin actions. In actuality this seldom happens and the spin imparted to the skokker ball by the kicker is some kind of a mixture of spin actions illustrated in FIG. 2. Nevertheless, it is possible to control the directional motion of skokker ball 3 in flight or on the ground by applying a deliberate and appropriate spin to it while kicking or striking (putting) same. In one extreme situation, the skokker ball can be made to behave like a boomerang that will come back right at the kicker after it is appropriately kicked. However, it would take a lot of practice before one can achieve such a feat.

Thus, unlike many balls advanced earlier that produce fun in different contexts by erratic and uncontrollable movements or making random clattering sounds, the skokker is unique in that its motion in flight or on the ground is totally controllable by the player. However, a player must learn, through a lot of training and hard work, to control its directional motion. Such is desirable if the skokker is to be used for the game of Sokker Golph. This is because a sporting game has hardly any meaning in playing if everything about playing it is pretty much left to luck or accidental happenings. The game of golf will never be the same if there is no control of driving or putting the ball through a lot of hard work and practice. Similarly, the game of soccer is not the same game if the ball cannot be skillfully controlled by the players but is left only to random and unpredictable motion

When playing golf or soccer, the player can wear a special pair of shoes. In the former case, in addition to adding comfort to the player while walking, the shoes also protect the grass on the fairway and especially that on the putting green. In the latter case, the shoes provide traction and agility for the players. As for special shoes used to play Sokker Golph, their primary function in addition to providing walking comfort to the player is to facilitate the application of a desired spin onto the SG ball when the latter is being kicked or passed. Even with the special shoes, players who wish to play well in Sokker Golph have to develop the appropriate skill for applying the right spin to the SG ball. Thus it is by no means a walk in the park for players who wish to excel playing Sokker Golph. Like the playing of golf or soccer, a player must devote a lot of training time and efforts to this game before he can master it well.

FIG. 3 depicts the different possible designs for a Sokker Golph (SG) course. As far as the playing or SG course for the playing of Sokker Golph is concerned, any golf course such as shown in FIG. 3(a) maintained in reasonable shape will do fine. The only change required to turn a golf course into a SG course is the replacement of the hole on the putting green for golf with a bucket or “buc” for Sokker Golph. In order not to rough up the putting green and the delicate replacement of the hole, the buc can be located in a completely different place as long as it is located somewhere on the putting green or SG smooth for Sokker Golph. The diameter of the buc should be approximately twice that of the skokker or ˜18 inches.

The game of Sokker Golph can also be conveniently played on any soccer field or American football field as depicted in FIGS. 3(b) and 3(c), respectively. Since the design of the SK course need not adhere rigidly to that for the golf course, any big enough span of space like a soccer or American football field can be divided into a 6 or 9-buc course. Such a division and the appropriate placement for the bucs can be left entirely to one's liking or imagination. Finally, for just the practice of the game, a SG course can have only one or more bucs. Since the bulk of the skill development for this game lies in the kicking and passing of the SG ball with the application of the correct spin, any street corner can be turned into a one-buc SG course as long as a bucket or buc is appropriately located [see FIG. 3(d)].

The playing rules of Sokker Golph generally follow the framework for the game of golf, but the game format is not as rigid as golf. Thus, the game of golf pretty much dictates that one has to play a 9-hole or 18-hole game, whereas one can play an N-buc game for the Sokker Golph where N can be any positive integer 1 through 18 or even larger. Also, unlike the golf course for playing golf, the SG course for playing Sokker Golph can be arbitrarily designed in size and shape to accommodate any number of bucs as long as there is for each buc a starting point for launching the SK ball game and a well-defined “rough” (equivalent to the fairway for golf) associated with that buc including a “smooth” (equivalent to the putting green for golf) with a bucket or buc (equivalent to the hole) located on it. Otherwise, like the game of golf, players can be grouped together to play either as a twosome or foursome. The playing rules for Sokker Golph then follow closely to those for playing golf when each particular buc is associated with a number of kicks or passes for sinking the SG ball into it. Thus a par 4 hole in golf shall be called a par 4 buc in Sokker Golph. Similarly, a hole in one, an eagle, a birdie, a par and a bogey are called respectively a buc in one, an eagle, a birdie, a par and a bogey for Sokker Golph.

Let us now describe the game of Sokker Golph in more details as follows:

Name of Sporting Game: Sokker Golph aka SG.

Number of Players: Unlimited subject only to the confine of the length of the available playing time and the facility (SG course) size.

Teaming: Players are grouped into twosomes or foursomes for playing each Sokker Golph game.

Score Keeping: For a twosome grouping, the two players are responsible for keeping the scores of each other after each buc of play. For a foursome grouping, each of the two twosome pairs is responsible for keeping the scores of each other after each buc of play as described earlier.

Length of Game: Can be an N-buc game where N is any positive integer. Thus it can be a 6-buc, 9-buc game etc.

Place of Play: Called a SG course which can be designed to play any N-buc game. The shape and size of the SG course will be determined accordingly.

Game Equipment:

1. SG Ball. A special ball, approximately 9.0″ in diameter for a regular ball (smaller for junior sizes), in which the direction of travel of the ball will be to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied to the ball at the point of contact, the direction of travel of the ball will be to the left when a clockwise spin is applied to the ball at the point of contact, and the direction of travel of the ball will be straight when a top spin is applied to ball at the point of contact.

2. Special Shoes. To play Sokker Golph, one may want to wear a pair of special shoes in order to facilitate the application of an appropriate spin to the SK ball during kicking or passing of the latter during play. For a right-handed person, the right shoe is for kicking only while the left foot is devoted to only passing. The reverse is true for the left-handed player. A Special rule for playing the Sokker Golph game is that a different foot has to be used in kicking or passing of the SK ball. Thus, if one uses one's right foot to kick the SG ball onto the “smooth”, then one must only use one's left foot to pass the ball into the buc on the “smooth and vice versa. No kicking is allowed once the SK ball lands on the smooth. Accordingly, there might be a considerable difference in construction between the right shoe and the left shoe.

3. The “Bucket.” A plastic bucket (the “buc”) having a diameter of fifteen (15) inches and eight (8) inches deep for marking the buc on the “smooth”. Each smooth for each buc of the SG course must be installed with a bucket to define the location of the buc.

The Actual Game Playing:

1. The prerequisite. With a particular SG course chosen and the number of bucs to play for the game, the players, optionally wearing their respective special shoes, and carrying their own SG balls, are grouped together as twosomes or foursome with their order pf play determined ahead of time.

2. The Play. Starting out with the first buc in the SK course, the first player from the first twosome will kick off his or her own identifiable SK ball followed by the player's partner in the twosome. If the grouping is a foursome arrangement, then the next twosome will follow the first twosome to kick off.

3. The Right Order to Play. Starting out with the first buc, the first twosome to play always has the right to complete the playing of a particular buc before the follow-on twosome. Like in golf, the second twosome will not start play or kick down the “rough” until the first twosome reaches the corresponding “smooth.”

4. The End Play. The play described above will continue until the first twosome finish all the bucs supposed to be played followed by all the other players doing the same.

5. The Score Tally. Since the players of each twosome take care of each other's scores as the game progresses, when all the players finish the last buc, they all turn in their score cards to a designated referee and it is the referee who will tally all the scores for the players and determine the game winner, runner-up, etc.

Thus, there has been described above the salient features of the sporting game “Sokker Golph”. While the invention has been described herein with reference to certain preferred embodiments, those embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and not to limit the scope of the invention. Additional embodiments thereof will be obvious to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this detailed description. Further modifications are also possible in alternative embodiments without departing from the inventive concept. For example, the motion of the skokker and its direction of travel away from a point of contact might be altered by using a core cavity of a shape different than a sphere.

Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that still further changes and modifications in the actual concepts described herein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed inventions as defined by the following claims. 

1. A sporting game, comprising: (1) kicking off a skokker ball from a starting point for launching the skokker ball toward a smooth containing a buc for the purpose of sinking the skokker ball into the buc in as few as strikes of said skokker ball as possible; and (2) if the skokker ball is not sunk into the buc in step (1), then striking the skokker ball with a player's foot one or more additional times until the skokker ball is sunk into the buc; wherein the direction of travel of the skokker ball will be to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied to the skokker ball at a point of contact with the player's foot, the direction of travel of the skokker ball will be to the left when a clockwise spin is applied to the skokker ball at the point of contact with the player's foot, and the direction of travel of the skokker ball will be straight when a top spin is applied to skokker ball at the point of contact with the player's foot.
 2. The sporting game of claim 1, further comprising: (3) repeating steps (1) and (2) N minus 1 times for an N-buc game where N is any positive integer greater than
 1. 3. The sporting game of claim 2, wherein the game is played on a course having N defined holes, each of the holes having a unique starting point, a rough and a smooth with a unique buc located in it.
 4. The sporting game of claim 3, wherein the skokker ball has a diameter of approximately nine inches and each of the unique bucs has a diameter of approximately 18 inches.
 5. The sporting game of claim 1, wherein a player playing the sporting game must choose either the player's left foot or the player's right foot as a first foot, with the player's other foot then becoming a second foot; and wherein the player must kick the skokker ball in step (1) with the player's first foot and the player can only strike the skokker ball in step (2) with the player's second foot when the skokker ball is on the smooth.
 6. The sporting game of claim 3, wherein a player playing the sporting game must choose either the player's left foot or the player's right foot as a first foot, with the player's other foot then becoming a second foot; and wherein the player must kick the skokker ball in step (1) with the player's first foot and the player can only strike the skokker ball in step (2) with the player's second foot when the skokker ball is on the smooth.
 7. The sporting game of claim 6, wherein the player is allowed to alternate between the player's left and right foot as the player's foot for any given complete sequence of steps 1 and 2, but not during a single sequence of steps 1 and
 2. 8. The sporting game of claim 2, wherein said sporting game is played by two or more players and a winner is declared at the end of step (3) by determining which player required the fewest strikes of the skokker ball.
 9. A Sokker Golph course, comprising: N holes, where N is any positive integer of 1 or greater, each of said N holes having: a starting point for launching a skokker ball; a rough; and a smooth with a buc located in it; said buc being a hole of approximately 15 inches in diameter in which the skokker ball can sink. 